Agenda item

Report of the Head of Education & Learning and Deputy Chief Officer for Children’s Services (CS/20/15), attached.

The Committee received a report from the Head of Education and Learning (CS/20/15) on the future provision of Education and Inclusion Services in Devon.

In 2012, the Council commissioned out its statutory Learner Support Services   to a joint venture with a private sector partner and Babcock Training Ltd (now Babcock Educational Holdings Ltd). A new partnership, Babcock Learning Development Partnership LLP (Limited Liability Partnership Joint Venture), was created, in which Devon County Council retained 19.9% ownership.  The service level contract put in place with Babcock LDP was for a maximum of ten years (seven years plus three) and expired on 31st March 2022.  The total value of the contract for 2019/20 was £8.8 million pounds.

The Council had been undertaking work on the future service design and the delivery model options for Learner Services in accordance with a commissioning timetable which allowed for any tender process or transfer of service required and a mobilisation period.

The pandemic incident management response required between March and July 2020 had a significant impact on the progress of the work to determine the future delivery model for Learner Services and it became clear that it would not be possible to meet the stringent consultation and competition rules set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 legislation within the timescales needed.  In August 2020, the Council’s Cabinet approved an extension to the existing contract which would continue for a period of up to 12 months, to 31st March 2023.

Consultation had now been carried out with schools and a public consultation on the options being considered was also being prepared. Scrutiny members would be provided with a copy of the public consultation before it was launched.  This public consultation would outline the options identified as the most beneficial along with the evidence base and rationale for this assessment.  A full business case would then be written to include additional cost modelling and analysis of the rationale for the option being recommended, including the cost of implementation in terms of work from other teams within the council.

The council would be consulting on views about bringing in all 3 services directly delivered by the Council, these were:

·       Educational Psychology

·       Early years support

·       Children missing education

The full business case for the final recommendations being made would be taken to Devon Education Forum (schools forum), LG8, Cabinet Leadership and Cabinet for final discussion and agreement.

Members raised the possibility of further work and scrutiny on the recommissioning of Babcock Services in order to better understand what was provided by Babcock and how bringing inhouse three of the main services would affect the contract.  The Head of Education and learning explained that there were 66 elements of statutory delivery that were included within Babcock services, and the recommissioning focussed more on how the service was delivered rather than what was delivered. 

It was MOVED by Councillor Hosking, SECONDED by Councillor Hannaford and

RESOLVED that a more detailed session with Members into the recommissioning of the Babcock contract be arranged to explore in more detail.